Pocket lighter



Jan. 22, 1929.

. L. BRUCKMANN POCKET LIGHTER Filed July 9, 1927 Patenteddan. VJ22,1929. l i,

i UNITED STATES PATENif oFFlcE.

LUDWIG BRUCKMANN, F PFORZHEIM, GERMANY.

POCKET LIGHTER.

Application mea July e, 1927, serial No.

Benzine pocket lighters have f become l known, in which the wick iscovered by a is therefore possible to manipulate the pockethood, carriedby a two-armed lever, which is oscillated at the same time as thefriction'- vwheel is rotated. Ifthe free end of the twoarmed leverisdepressed, the wick-hood mounted on the'other end of the lever islittedolf the wick, the friction wlleel rotates over a cerium-rod and sparksare thrown towards the wick. The oscillation caii'ied out bythetwo-armed lever amounts to about 9 0". The free elld of the leverisidownwardly pressed by the linger, this presenting the followinginconvenience. The finger loses its hold as soon as the correspondinglever-end is downwardly inclined and slips oill so tllat the lastportion of the rotation of the frictionwheel is not carried through withthe impulse required for the production of sparks. A pocket-lighter ofthis kind is not a one-hand pocket lighter, i. e. a pocket-lighter to beoperated with one hand as, if the user grips the pocket-lighter so thatthe bottom-plate of the same rests on the index and middle linger of thehand, the thumb depressing tl'le lever-end, the pocket-lighter woulddrop fromthe hand at the moment when the inclination of the lever-endbegins. He therefore must usethe otherhand for holding thepocket-lighterduring the depressing of the lever-end so that he cannotuse his other handl for holding the cigarette or cigar to be lighted.

This inconvenience is absolutely avoided by the present invention, whichconsists in using foi-'the depressing of the lever-end a knob mountedon` a shaft, adapted yto be shifted in longitudinal direction in thebody of the pocket-lighter inJ opposition -to the action of the spring,said nob-pressingfat the downward movement against the nose of thefriction-wheel, so thatthe wickfhood'is lifted oi the wick and thefriction-wheel rotated at the same time. l

The knob on the shaft is not inclinedbut shifted only in thelongitudinal direction of the nger-pressure. The finger can thereforenot slip off and it can be used at the same time-.for holding thepocket-lighter. It

. strongly 204,627, and in Germany April 13, 1927.

lighter with one hand, the bottom plate of the pocket-lighter resting onthe index and middle finger and the thumb of the same hand pressing downthe knob. Dropping of the procket lighter from the hand is absolutelyAavoided so that the second hand is available for any'otliermanipulation. i

An embodiment of the invention is shown,

-by way of example, in'the accompanying drawing i inwhich Fig. 1 showsthe improved pocket-lighter in side elevation and in closed position.

Fig. 2 is`a longitudinal section and Fig. 3 is a top planl view of Fig.2. The 'casing ,l is closed atthe bottom by a plate 2 and at thet'op bya1 plate 'Ihre tubes 4 and 5 are fixed in the plates 2 and 3 the tube 4serving to guide a cerium! rod 6 and tube 5v serving to guide the hollowshaft 7 of the push-knob 16. The casing 1 has on the top plate 3 anextension 10 with holes 9 in its wall and serving as wind-screen,

said extension being normally closed bya lid 12, oscillatably mounted onan axle 11. On this axle 11 'a friction-wheel 15 having two noses 13 and14 is rotatably'mounted.

When the lid 12 is closed, the nose 13 of the friction-wheel 15 extendsadjacent to the lower side of knob 16 the nose 14 bearing on the innersurface ,of the lid 12. When the knob 16 is depressed, in opposition tothe action of a spring 17, the friction-wheel'l rotates about o in thedirection of the arrow-line A (Fig. 2). The sparks which are thusproduced, ignite the benzine in the free. end of a wick 18. Atthe sametime as the friction-wheel. 15 is rotated, the lid 12 is oscillated sothat the flame projectsfrom the wind-screen 10 which is now open at thetop end.

On the inner end of the lid 1,2 a hood 19 forithe wick is fixed and asnap-spring 2O is lid 12 in the closing position, as said spring isclamped between the `inner surfaces of two opposite side walls of thewind-screen 1Q.l By this Ilocking of the lid 12 the spark-pro. ductionis favored as, after the jamming has been overcome by the pressureexerted upon the knob 16, the friction-wheel 15 will rapidly rotate overthe end of the ceriuin rod 6 under the influence of the knob 16 which isdepressed without considerable resistance.

When the ceruim-rod 6 is no longer 15 it might happen that the lid 12opensacpressed against the friction-wheel 7 by means of elastic arms 21so cidentally in the pocket so that, asV the Wickhood 19 is no longertightly pressed on the top-plate 3 of the bodyof the pocket-lighterbenzine can evaporate. rIlhis must however be prevented in any positionof the pocketlighter. For this purpose serves the spring 20 whichsecurely holds thelid 12 in closed position, owing to the friction onthe inner side of wall 25. A further advantage is that for opening thelid the resistance of'sprin'g 20 has to be overcome by a pressure on thepush-knob 16. To open the lid a' strong pres sure has to be exerted onythe knob 16. lf after the lid has been slightly lifted the frictionalresistance of the spring 2O ceases, as it has come Out of Contact withthe .Windscreen, the friction wheel 15 will be rapidly rotated by -thestrong pressure onthe push knob 16 so that a strong jet of sparks isproduced, this being necessary for the ignition of the benzine-gasescoming from the wick 18. The spare cerium-rods 22 are stored inthehollow shaft 7 ofknob 1G. The knob 16 is removably fixedin the upper'endof Shaft that it closes the top end of the magazine.

1in-.order to prevent excessive heating of the wind-screen 10 an innerwall 25 having air holes (Fig. 3) maybe arranged at a short distancefrom the outer wall of the windscreen.

The casing may be of any desired shape, size, material and ornamented ornot.

l. A benzine pocket-lighter, comprising p moons;

said casing so that the edge of said knob standing above said noseofSaid frictionwheel makes said friction-wl1eel rotate when that sparks.-

said knob is being depressed so are produced.

2. A benzine-pocket-lighter as specilied in claim 11 comprising incombination with the casing the push-knob the friction-wheel and `theccrium-rod, a windscreen on the top plate of said casing, a horizontalaxle journalled in said wind-screen and carrying said frictionwheel, alid for said wind screen and fixed on said horizontal axle, a Wick insaid casing the upper end of said wick project-ing into saidWind-screen, a wick-hood on the inner surface of said lid, and ablade-spring on the inner surface of said lid for securely holding saidlid i-n the closing position.

A. benzine pocket lighter as specified in claim 1,'co1nprising incombination with a push knob, a hollow shaft of said push knob servingas magazine for Spare cerium rods, and elastic downwardly directed armsixed on the lower surface of said push-knob and designed to hold saidknob in said hollow shaft and serving as cover for said hollow shaft.

1n testilnonylwhere'of I aix my signature.

LUDWIG BRUCKMANN.

